The posts decide it. Everything else is secondary, and most fences are replaced while their panels are still perfectly serviceable.
A fence lasts as long as its posts. Concrete posts outlast timber considerably; timber posts fail at ground level, where they sit in wet soil.
Installation and maintenance move the number more than the price of the panels does — depth, gravel boards, and keeping soil and growth off the timber.
| Component | Relative life | What ends it |
|---|---|---|
| Metal spike supports | Shortest | Movement and corrosion at ground level |
| Timber posts, concreted | Moderate | Rot at ground level |
| Timber posts with gravel boards | Longer | Rot, but delayed |
| Concrete posts | Longest | Rarely the failure point |
| Panels | Moderate to long | Weather, wind damage, impact |
| Closeboard boards | Long | Replaced individually as needed |
| Gravel boards | Sacrificial by design | They rot so the panel does not |
We have deliberately not put year figures against these, because exposure, ground conditions, timber grade and installation quality all swing them so far that a number would mislead. The ranking, though, holds everywhere.
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Timber treatment helps, but less than people hope, and it is worth being clear why: the part that fails is the buried section, which no amount of surface treatment reaches. Painting and staining the visible timber slows weathering and looks after appearance, which is worth doing — just do not expect it to prevent the failure that actually ends the fence.
See what our garden fencing service covers in Hanham, or read more about the service across the areas we work in.
As long as its posts. Concrete posts outlast timber considerably, and timber posts fail at ground level where they sit in wet soil.
Because that is where timber meets wet soil. The bottom six inches decide a fence's life, and everything that keeps that zone dry buys years.
Yes, considerably. They are sacrificial by design — they rot so the panel does not, and they are cheap to replace.
Less than people hope. The part that fails is the buried section, which surface treatment never reaches. Painting looks after appearance rather than lifespan.
Soil or turf banked against the timber, a watered border alongside it, growth held against it, and no gravel boards.
Broadly yes. Posts installed together, in the same ground, reach the end within a year or two of each other.
Usually. Sections replaced years apart cost more in total, never quite match, and the new panels get damaged when the next posts are done.
Push each post at shoulder height and press a screwdriver into the timber at soil level, once a year. Act on the first soft one.
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